Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I can’t stop grinning the rest of the night.
CHAPTER TEN
Hayes
I have no idea why I’m standing outside the coffee shop where I know Donovan and Anthony are meeting tonight. There’s no reason to be here. I still don’t get the point of this whole thing, but he sent me another message with the time, and since it happened to be around when Rylan’s game is, I figured I could use the distraction. I can meet them, see what this is all about, then let them know I’m not interested. I can’t imagine what we’d have in common anyway.
I’ve completely stayed away from the internet and television all evening…because I absolutely don’t care that Rylan is playing. It doesn’t matter how good he does. It has no effect whatsoever on my life, except for him thinking I have supercum. Which is maybe the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard in my life. It doesn’t even warrant continuing to think about it.
So I’m not.
At all.
I’m going to have a secret meeting with the other members of the Jilted Exes’ Club instead.
I pace in front of the building, my thoughts warring between what the fuck am I doing here and Rylan.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to at least see how he did. That way when he doesn’t have an extra-special hockey game, he’ll finally put this thought out of his head.
And never want to hook up with me again, which isn’t a fun option.
His only interest in me comes from his weird hockey superstition. Really, I shouldn’t care, and part of me doesn’t, except the sex is so good. Like what I assumed sex was supposed to be before I actually had it and realized it wasn’t all that special. I’m not ready to let that go, and Rylan is easy. I need easy if I want to keep having fantastic sex and to prove to myself that I’m not the kind of guy who’s just going to fall in love with any man who pays me attention.
At least Donovan and Anthony didn’t go that far, which brings me back to the fact that instead of stalking Rylan, I’m stalking Donovan and Anthony, but is it really stalking if I was invited?
I turn to walk away, just as I hear, “Hayes?”
I look up to see a beautiful man with short curls and rich brown eyes. He’s around my age, not really a twink, maybe a twunk? I’m not even sure how I feel about those words, but they’re what I’m used to hearing.
I recognize him, of course. It’s not like I didn’t google all the men who were also dating my boyfriend, though the amount of tags and posts I was sent would have done that job for me. It’s Donovan. ER nurse, born and raised in Southern California, graduated from USC, smart as hell, has an extra-close relationship with his dad, and is still close with the guy he’s been best friends with since elementary school.
Okay, so maybe I am a bit of a stalker.
“Are you going to come in?” he asks.
“I’m not sure,” I answer honestly.
He gets a sad look on his face, one that says he understands how I feel but also makes me shift uncomfortably, feeling naked and exposed because Donovan is a stark reminder of the most humiliating moment of my life. To be fair, it’s not just him. Anthony would be the same way to me, but he’s not the one walking closer to me right now.
“I get it. Things have been brutal. That’s why I was thinking we could get together and support each other. I don’t have a lot of close friends.”
I don’t really have a lot of close friends either. Is that part of the reason Malcolm chose us? Not something I want to think about right now, or, like, ever.
“You should come in,” Donovan says. “This might be a stupid idea, but we won’t know if we don’t try.”
The thing is, I have no idea what to say to this guy. I’m not friend material. I’ve never had friends who stuck around or were more than acquaintances. I can’t see what we would possibly get out of this situation, but I must admit I’m curious. What are Donovan and Anthony like? Maybe by spending time with them, I can figure out what it is about me, about us, that made Malcolm target us. “Just this once,” I tell him. “I’m already here anyway.”
Donovan smiles, and so far, all I can think is how nice he seems, how sincere. I know I’m prickly and not for everyone, so it’s not a complete surprise that someone would treat me the way Malcolm did, but Donovan seems totally different.
He holds the door open for me, and I head into the coffeehouse. It’s busy, three workers behind the counter and two people in line. Most of the tables are full, and I immediately see Anthony leaning against the back wall. He lifts his hand in a wave as we approach.